Mailbag: As former mayors, we urge Costa Mesa to reopen more of the local economy

This is an open letter to the Costa Mesa City Council.

We the undersigned, former Costa Mesa mayors, call on our successors in office to immediately vote on reopening those parts of the economy that can be safely reopened.

As former mayors and elected officials of Costa Mesa we understand more than anyone else how tough some of these decisions are to make. Now that we, here in Orange County have flattened the COVID-19 curve, we need to follow the Board of Supervisors’ lead and revote on the issues that have closed down our city.

We are not calling for an end to common-sense practices aimed at guarding the public health. Indeed, we’re calling for common sense, for our public officials to remember that they have the public’s trust only insofar as they trust the public.

In the past several days, some of Costa Mesa’s public officials have revealed a contempt for the public. Failing to plan for a crisis, they responded with panic. They brought a sledgehammer to a problem that requires a scalpel.

In doing so, they have further endangered the public’s health. They still fail to understand that crushing an economy produces joblessness, kills businesses, slashes household income and strangles the flow of sales tax revenue to governments that need it now more than ever.

Specifically, Costa Mesa’s City Council has:

• Shut down public parks in which voluntary social-distancing might more reasonably have created public health
• Threatened with fines golf courses that planned to open with a range of self-imposed practices (including no golf carts, no gatherings and no cash)
• Closed the city’s trail system that brings fresh air and exercise to our youth
• Created for commercial tenants, a new right, the right to refuse to pay rent. Among the first to take advantage of this squatters’ rights have been such global brands as Louis Vuitton and Tickets.com, and other publicly traded companies. These and others are using a legitimate public health crisis to shift their business costs onto others.

When the power goes out at night in a major city, we can see who our neighbors really are. When our officials are the cause of the blackout, and then use the darkness to expand their power over daily life, we can see who our officials really are.

This is a moment of truth for our local officials. We expect them to act on our best interests. We count on them to remember the Constitution they swore to protect. We expect them to remember that they govern only because the people have allowed it. Please revote these issues at your next council meeting. Your community is waiting.

James Righeimer
Sandra Genis
Steve Mensinger
Gary Monahan
Eric Bever
Allan Mansoor

Costa Mesa

Former mayors drink GOP-flavored Kool-Aid

The former mayors’ letter is an act of rank opportunism during a time of crisis. Their talking points are straight out of the GOP’s distort-and-deflect playbook for the coronavirus crisis, and the mayors resort to some heavy-handed prose to try and manipulate their audience.

When you see the words “crushing,” “kills,” “slashes” and “strangles” in the same sentence, it’s a pretty good bet you’re not reading a measured response intended to advance a solution. And, in fact, the former mayors present no safe-opening plan of any kind in their 430-word letter.

They demand a “vote on reopening those parts of the economy that can be safely reopened,” but don’t explain what that means or suggest any steps to achieve that goal. So they’re really just taking potshots from afar to score political points with their base.

But I have an idea to jump-start the effort. Let’s begin with a limited program offering tours of the mayors’ homes. What better way to show there’s no risk than to have a host of other anti-social-distancing zealots parade through their houses?

Lead by example, after all. They can serve Lysol shots and Clorox-tinis, just to add an extra safety factor.

Bill McCarty
Costa Mesa

Irvine Co. to pivot with hotels

The Irvine Co. has always viewed our hotel and resort locations as warm community gathering places providing comfort to the overnight guest and a warm environment for community meetings and special events.

As you know, the hospitality industry, including hotel guest services in the Irvine and Newport Beach areas, have been deeply impacted by the near shutdown in travel brought about by the severe health and economic crisis. Every hotel in our region has been impacted and many have closed.

Throughout this period, the Resort at Pelican Hill has remained open as a benefit to the community. We are proud to say that we have been able to serve our guests in a responsible manner during this pandemic period maintaining strict health and safety guidelines.

As we continue to receive guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and our state and local public health officials, it is clear that the hotel industry will evolve into a new level of hotel guest expectations and service.

The Irvine Co. is utilizing this slow period of reduced demand to plan for the future. This future planning may include the repositioning and reimagining of our hotels with a focus on delivering a first-class clean, safe and healthy environment for our local communities, our guests and our hotel service personnel.

The Irvine Co. is planning to reopen the two hotels with quality improvements and modern features in the near term and we look forward to the day of welcoming back our friends, community members, hotel guests and hotel associates. We will stay in touch with you and the community.

Scott Starkey
Chief Communications Officer, Irvine Co.
Newport Beach

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